PATRICK RADER HAS OVERCOME A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AND NOW LEADS A PRODUCTIVE LIFE.
or Lake-Sumter State College professor Patrick Rader, life as he knew it changed in a flash. His most precious memories, his sense of self, and his accumulated knowledge vaporized in an instant. Years of fine-tuning his personality, skills, and flaws were suddenly gone.
On a warm night in June 1999, the 30-year-old carefree man sucked down a few beers at a Colorado Rockies baseball game and several hours later enjoyed a few more rounds at a friend’s bar. Next came the worst decision of his life.
He hopped on his motorcycle, sped through a stop sign, and collided with a F-150 truck. After awaking in the hospital, he had no memory of the accident—or of his previous life.
Patrick became a devastating statistic, one of an estimated 1.5 million Americans who suffer a traumatic brain injury each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The accident also left his brachial artery severed and his right arm separated from his body.
“I crashed two blocks from Denver General Hospital,” says Patrick, a 1987 graduate of Eustis High School who now resides in Mount Dora. “If it had been four blocks, I wouldn’t have made it. My mom said that when she came to the hospital, the only part of my body that wasn’t bruised or scabbed was my hand.”
Patrick, now 49, has spent nearly 20 years pushing against his physical limitations to overcome the bonebreaking, brain-clouding accident. He
Photo: Anthony Rao // Photoshop: Josh Clarkhas endured nine surgeries, including one where doctors took muscles from his abs to rebuild his leg, and years of physical and occupational therapy. He also had to relearn how to read and write.
And with little memory of his past—Patrick did not know he was going through a divorce at the time of his accident—he endured the mental anguish of rediscovering who he was in his previous life.
Through research and conversations with family members and friends, he pieced some things together. He was president of his senior class and editor of the yearbook at Eustis High School
same dresser all at once,” he says. “That’s how I start each morning. Then it gets worse from there.”
But along his journey to recovery, Patrick stopped framing memory loss and pain as the enemies and something to be vilified and defeated. While the circumstances of his life shifted well beyond anything he could have imagined, he never lost hope—or his cheerful, funny personality.
Patrick pursued new passions, which provided motivation during the recovery process. In 2007, he earned a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Central Florida and became an English professor at Lake-Sumter State College. Students enjoy his energetic teaching style.
life outside of visits to a doctor’s office or a pharmaceutical store. What’s more inspiring is that Patrick has not swallowed a pain pill in 19 years.
“After my injury, I was taking opioids and it hurt more to poop than to be in pain,” he says. “That’s the main reason I wanted off them, but I’m glad that I am not putting chemicals into my body. When I talk to chronic pain groups, the people are 20 years younger than me but look 20 years older. Those guys, in a sense, are already dead. I wouldn’t have been able to do all the things I have if I took pain pills all these years.”
and a fraternity brother at the University of Florida, where he often was assigned kitchen duty for being mischievous. At age 8, he and his sister attended a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert and received backstage passes because his sister told event organizers that Patrick had leukemia.
“How many people go back and investigate 30 years of their lives?” he asks. “Finding out about myself was disconcerting because I didn’t know that person I was before. There are some things that guy did that I wouldn’t do now. When I share my past, sometimes I think they are real memories, and then other times I think I probably heard them from a story someone told me.”
For Patrick, memory loss and pain have been constant companions since the accident. As the day progresses, so do his body aches.
“Imagine twisting your ankle, banging your knee on a dresser, then cracking your collarbone on the corner of the
“After the accident, I had complete strangers go above and beyond for me when I was recovering,” he says. “I figured the best way I could pay those wonderful people back is to become a professor and inspire young people to learn.”
Outside the classroom, he has spent weekends umpiring Little League baseball games, playing 18 rounds of disc golf at local courses, and serving as a guest speaker at chronic pain and pain management support groups. He also loves playing “Spiderman” on PlayStation 4.
“In the past four years, I’ve seen more amazing narratives in video games than I have in movies,” he says. “I cry at the end of ‘Spiderman’ because Aunt May dies. Seriously, though, I find things to immerse myself in, and that helps distract me from the pain. If you’re going to be in pain anyway, why not be in pain and be productive?”
Participating in those activities is impressive, especially considering many chronic pain patients have little
He does find other ways to medicate when pain levels rise. There are the outings to local drinking holes such as Wolf Branch Brewing Company in Eustis, Mermaid Juice in Mount Dora, and Brü Tap House in Tavares. Additionally, having a state-issued medical marijuana card gives him the green light to vape cannabidiol oil (CBD), a compound found in marijuana plants.
“I could either stay at home and be in pain or hang out at the bar with a couple friends. The choice is easy. And after the second craft beer, I’m not feeling much pain at all,” he says while laughing.
He also loves spending time with his wife, Heather, a physical therapist whom he married in 2011. They met when he was a patient at her office.
“I heard him laugh when I was in another room, and I fell in love with his laugh before I met him,” Heather says. “You always get the truth with him, and he is a fun-loving guy with such a big heart.”
That happy-go-lucky attitude is a big reason why Patrick has thrived in the face of adversity. And despite his cloudy memory, here’s something Patrick should never forget: He has successfully gone head-to-head with a traumatic brain injury, becoming a source of determination, inspiration, and hope.
Story: Dr. Richard T. Bosshardt
